London - Wales - Glasgow and finally ... Portadown!

(Leigh Alderson in rehearsals with Scottish National Ballet 2008)


Huraah! Three weeks off! Although i will not be resting!

Im back in my hometown and seeing some familiar faces. Its always great to come home, it usually indicates 'Rest, Relaxation, Holiday, Time Off, Family, Friends ...... Couple of Glasses of Vino!!!

All in all it usual donates a good feeling!

I have just finished with Ballet Russe which was very sad to say goodbye to a great company of dancers and friends , but i have to start making preparations for the move to Nottingham to start my contract with New English Contemporary Ballet. Im very Excited, they are a brilliant company with excelent repetoire and i think i will very much benefit from the work. Not only will i have a chance to strengthen and develop my technique but also i feel i will grow and mature even more as an artist.
I have heard nothing but reports that they work long hours and extremely hard.... and i can't wait!!
Inbetween sorting out moving, i now feel i have some free time to do something i have thought about doing for a while... Teaching.

I am heading back to my old dance school to do some master classes which i am so excited about. My first dance teacher , Donna Whitten , and her students at her dance academy in Portadown , Northern Ireland, are very kind to accept my offer to do some master classes.

I have to admit, Im extremely nervous too. I have never taught before and its going to be as much a learning experience for me as it is going to be for the students. There is pressure to deliver , much like a performance.
I want to give all the students the best i can and offer them as much knowledge as i can. Its an exciting and very different project , but its a challenge ...


......And i love a challenge !

Behind The Curtain...

2009 : A New Chapter & Words Of Wisdom

Well.... 2009 is now officially here and its a perfect time for me to re-evaluate my life and career, take stock of what i have achieved and what i want to accomplish.

I am in London at the moment with Ballet Russe. At present I'm dying of a hideous cold, which in fairness the whole company seem to have, so there is lots sniffing and sneezing!

Audiences have been good except for one night... ( After Christmas, Credit Crunch, a Thursday, some of the many reasons for this.)

The Audience on this one night was very bad, almost an embarrassingly small audience. It is a little annoying, and generally you want to have a fuller audience. As usual we were all complaining about it until my friend ,and fellow dancer, Alys turned to us and said something that is so true and brilliant, and is something i feel all dancers ( and in general performers) should try and remember

'Its not the audiences fault that they are so few, but they paid the same amount that the previous full audience did . It would be unfair if we gave them any less!'

Ahhh! My first quote of wisdom!

Its so important to think about this.
It is our job as a performer to give 100% , if its an audience of 10,000 or just 10! We owe it to the audience, and more importantly , to ourselves as artists.

HAPPY NEW YEAR & GOOD LUCK WITH ALL YOU DO AND IN ALL YOU TRY!